Story #181 - Gridlock (2007)

Harry -
After the new seasons of Doctor Who began to roll in, I looked forward to scooping up each DVD box set when it was released. Still do!

I can't say there's a definite reason for this, but "Gridlock" is the one story in all of new Who that I have watched more than any other. It's always been a go-to. It's one of those ones that I would put on a list of episodes to show new viewers. It's got a little bit of everything: fascinating aliens, a far-out but relatable setting, progressive characterizations, danger and suspense, classic monsters, a celebrity guest and the drop of a big clue in the season story arc. But the question is, does it all come together?


Sarah -
I can't recall the last time I watched "Gridlock", but, after this viewing, I would answer that question with a resounding YES! "Gridlock" is a proper science fiction story and an excellent episode to show to new viewers.


Harry -
We also see the continued development of the relationship (or lack of) between the Doctor and Martha. Having promised her one trip in the TARDIS, he suddenly offers another. Once to the past, and now once into the future. That's the new deal.

She leaps at the opportunity and asks to see the Doctor's home planet. He loses himself in a momentary reverie of Gallifrey before waving the suggestion off.


Sarah -
With all we’ve learned since this episode aired, I still found the Doctor’s description of Gallifrey quite touching, “The sky's a burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever. Slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow…. Nah. Where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home.”


Harry -
Instead, he decides they should go and see New New York on New Earth. It sounds fabulous and Martha gets excited... until he lets slip that he'd been there before with Rose.


Sarah -
I love that Martha calls him out on being on the rebound.


Harry -
Paint Martha distinctly unimpressed, especially when they land in a grimy alleyway during a rainstorm.


Sarah -
Martha’s “You’ve brought me to the slums,” comment pretty much sums it up. She definitely hasn’t woken up in the city that never sleeps.


Harry -
Surrounding this have been a couple of short scenes to give us some background. First we saw a couple inside a vehicle being attacked by an unseen monster. (I've always wondered if that couple wasn't inspired by the "Ma and Pa" characters in Grant Wood's "American Gothic.") In another part of the city, the Face of Boe urges a cat nurse to seek out and find the Doctor. Gun in hand, she sets off.


Sarah -
They’re definitely the father and daughter from American Gothic. I’ve always felt sorry for the daughter, being mistaken for her father’s wife. If you haven’t already, you can see it at the Art Institute of Chicago on your next visit.


Harry -
I had no idea it was a father and daughter. You learn something new every day here on the sofa! The one time I was at the Art Institute, the painting had been taken down. Can't remember if it was for restoration or for a loan.


Sarah -
But, back to Doctor Who, the cat nurses always unnerve me, even when they’re not being evil.


Harry -
A testament to the amazing work by the makeup team.

Back in the alley, the Doctor and Martha encounter a row of street vendors who sell synthetic moods such as "happy happy" and "forgetfulness". A simple patch applied to the neck, and the user immediately feels the effects. In a split second, the Doctor turns his back and two young people kidnap Martha at gunpoint. They drag her behind a heavy door which immediately locks behind them.

Stupid Doctor! He'd been all flippant and even arrogant to this point, and look what happened. Now the Doctor full on rages -- more at himself for being so casual in an unfamiliar place. His story-long search for Martha ensues.


Sarah -
This is the moment when the Doctor starts to think of Martha as a companion and not someone being rewarded with a trip in the TARDIS for her good work. Meanwhile, Martha realizes that the Doctor could easily abandon her and leave her to spend the rest of her life trapped in a traffic jam. It’s really quite terrifying. 

One of my favorite things about Gridlock is that there really isn’t a baddie in the story. The people who kidnap Martha aren’t trying to hurt anyone, they just need a third person so they can access the fast lane and get to Brooklyn in six years -- just in time for their child to start school.


Harry -
Each new bit of information reveals how badly New New York has declined since the last time the Doctor was there. 

Cheen and Milo "speed off" with Martha. The Doctor clambers up to a deck overlooking the motorway. It is clogged with endless lanes and levels of flying cars, and poisonous exhaust. As a coughing fit seizes him, a passing car opens up and invites him in. The Doctor leaps inside and is welcomed by... more cats! Thomas Kincade Brannigan is a human-feline hybrid. Valerie is his human partner, and in the back of the car they have kittens. Totes aborbs! The Doctor says his hellos, then explains his pursuit of Martha.


Sarah -
They’re such an adorable family. I love that they leap into action to help the Doctor.


Harry -
Brannigan enlists the aid of Alice and May, a couple whose hobby is car-spotting.


Sarah -
I think of them as the Lovely Lesbian Carspotters.


Harry -
They help locate the car that Martha is in, and the Doctor takes off. Leaping from car to car and barging through, he encounters many more people who sit wasting their lives away in the gridlock.


Sarah -
I love this entire sequence. It’s an impressively inexpensive reuse of one set, which is SO Doctor Who!


Harry - 
Meanwhile, Novice Hame the cat nurse is in hot pursuit.


Sarah -
As we’ve learned, you don’t mess with a cat nurse!


Harry -
After witnessing a terrifying attack on a nearby vehicle, Cheen and Milo veer off and stop their car. Strange noises persist outside. They tell Martha the legends of monstrous things that live at the bottom of the motorway. That leaves all three of them shaken and scared.

The Doctor reaches the bottom and barges into another vehicle. Getting a closer look underneath, he confirms that the monsters are real, and he's encountered them before: the Macra!


Sarah -
A vintage take from 1967! Who can ever forget "The Macra Terror"? Well, just about everyone, as all four episodes are currently missing from the archives. Honestly, that makes me love RTD more for bringing them back. I mean, who could forget this moment? 

Harry -
Some of the best horror faces in all of Doctor Who.

I was blown away that of all the monsters to pull out of the mists of time, RTD chose the Macra. And he found a plausible reason for them to end up where they did.


Sarah -
How many years do you think he was working it out in his head?


Harry -
It's impressive that a story about a city-wide traffic jam bounced along as quickly as it did. As soon as Novice Hame locates the Doctor, she zaps him up to the Senate chamber with a mini-teleport. The chamber and all civic institutions surrounding them are dead. Everyone perished from a virus that was contained in one of the new drugs that was introduced to the city. The only survivors are the people stuck in the traffic down below, doomed to circle around forever.


Sarah -
It really puts any traffic jam we’ve experienced in perspective.


Harry -
The Face of Boe has been there with the nurse, keeping the power going. After a quick reunion with his old friend, the Doctor rigs up a power surge that brings the city back to life. The sun comes out, traffic clears, and Martha finds her way up to the Senate chamber.


Sarah -
The reaction of the traffic-bound to finally seeing the sun is so lovely. It warmed my skeptical little heart, even after all these years.


Harry -
She arrives in time to witness the Face of Boe's final moments. The power surge drained the last of his energy. His casing shattered and he is fading. Before he goes, he has a final message for the Doctor: "You are not alone."


Sarah -
I’ll never forget my reaction the first I saw this scene. After two seasons of the Doctor being the last of the Time Lords, we found out that he wasn’t the only survivor. I had high hopes for who it might be, but that’s a story for another day...


Harry -
Martha asks what that means, but the Doctor shrugs it off. He decides it's time to be off and trudges away towards the TARDIS.

Martha has had enough. She sits herself down and refuses to take another step until the Doctor finally talks to her like a normal person. It finally dawns on the Doctor what an arse he's been, and how shabbily he has treated his new friend. He opens up and tells Martha about the Time War, of Gallifrey, and how he is the last of the Time Lords. Boe's message still hangs there like a shadow. There's still something that the Doctor doesn't want to talk about.


Sarah -
It’s about damn time!


Harry -
This remains a story that I would show to a new viewer. It has the list of qualities that I mentioned at the start of our discussion, and I can add that it's visually interesting, and that ending would make anyone want to race to the next story to learn more. Well done by RTD, director Richard Clark, and the incredible costume and makeup teams.


Sarah -
It’s an excellent story that completely holds up. Well done!


Harry -
Best Line: 
DOCTOR: What, you've been driving for two months? 
BRANNIGAN: Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now. 
DOCTOR: I'm sorry? 
BRANNIGAN: Yeah! Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday. 
VALERIE: Feels like twelve years to me. 

Favourite Moment: the Doctor's wild race through all the vehicles.

Lasting Image: the Doctor and Martha with the Face of Boe and Nurse Hame.

8/10


Sarah -
Best Line: 
BRANNIGAN: Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here.
ALICE: Get off the line, Brannigan. You're a pest and a menace.
BRANNIGAN: Oh, come on, now, sisters. Is that any way to talk to an old friend? 
ALICE You know full well we're not sisters. We're married.
BRANNIGAN: Ooo, stop that modern talk. I'm an old-fashioned cat. 

Favorite Moment: The Doctor bounding from car to car.

Lasting Image: Brannigan and Valerie in their car 

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #182: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks...